Rayment looking for settled squad

Pat Rayment admits the start of the campaign has been “a very challenging time”.

The Spalding United boss had to deal with a series of issues during the pre-season programme.

A failure to convert clear-cut chances into more goals left him frustrated as the new-look Tulips picked up four points from four games in the Evo-Stik League First Division South.

Last weekend they made progress in the FA Cup – but even that victory was costly.

Central defender Nathan Stainfield has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a broken wrist – although the lay-off could be longer if he needs a hand operation.

Forward Ash Burbeary is awaiting an update on the extent of his hamstring injury while summer signing Julian Kelly has not yet featured and fellow new-boy James Cullingworth won’t be fit until the new year.

Rayment said: “My hands are tied when players are under contract but I’ve still got some money available where I could juggle the squad around.

“We can put out a strong team but it has been quite frustrating trying to find the right players to come in.

“This has certainly been a very challenging time as a management team.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had so many issues where I need to adjust for every game.

“But you can’t legislate for what happened to Nathan Stainfield last weekend – that was absolute madness.

“We’ve still got young lads like his brother George and Lewis McKue who will be pushing for places soon.

“We need to patch ourselves up and keep going until we get some of the big guns back firing on the pitch.

“Even if we can bring in more players, we need to try to have a settled squad and a good atmosphere around the dressing-room.

“Despite everything else going on, we haven’t been too far away from having all 12 points on the board.”

Spalding return to league action on Saturday at home to Kidsgrove Athletic who finished at the bottom of last season’s table.

So far this term they have only picked up two points in four games and they lost both away fixtures.